Darling, go under with me
by Starry Sam
Summary: Eames is not himself... It's almost as if he's been sturggling in limbo; Arthur needs to take him back, and goes under with him.  As they go deeper into themselves, what will they find there?  ArthurxEames; will become M rated in the future.
1. Chapter 1

**Darling, go under with me  
chapter 1 **

* * *

_The air is frowzy, and you can smell the choking darkness, almost taste it. It's one of those mornings when you just can't move – but feel more alive than ever. Every inhalation is going to make you suffocate, little by little, so why try to stand up, when you know the air is running out? You've lost your track, and time is only a wait. Only fragments of a human remain. The rest is immersed – into a half remembered dream.  
And when you come for me, and knock on my door, I am not there._

There were footsteps, followed by a thud from outside.  
"Eames?"  
"Yeah…"  
"Lock up the goddamn door, why are you late?"  
Eames threw a glance at the alarm clock; saying 11.27.  
"I must've fallen asleep again."  
"Great, just come out."  
Arthur leaned against the door, looking up at the cream-yellow ceiling in the hotel corridor. Maybe it had been unprofessional to meet outside of work, but it was soothing to spend some time with someone who understood the complexity of being on vacation after a job, that had "only", been a dream.  
The door opened outwards, and Arthur's weight pushed it back again.  
"Oh, sorry", he said, and turned around to open the now unlocked door.  
Somehow, Arthur had expected to find a newly awaken, messy Eames who hadn't even bothered enough to button up his own pants. But instead, there stood an indeed newly awaken Eames, but fully dressed, with his hair neatly pushed aback, and (Arthur had to check, even if he found it inappropriate) with his pants buttoned.  
"Not looking half bad – for oversleeping and all. You've got to tell me your secret later".

They stepped outside and crossed the street; heading against a nearby café. As they waited for the lights to switch, Arthur took a quick look at Eames – he hadn't spoken yet. It was unusual for the forger NOT to comment anything and everything around him. Being in the branch required you to have your eyes open, and Eames was especially good at that. Maybe he'd spotted something suspicious that made him quiet? Arthur soon realized the possibility, and turned somewhat ashamed for not catching that sooner.  
They settled down at a corner-table by the window. Eames put his coat on the broad windowsill, while Arthur put his upon the back of his chair. Arthur ordered coffee, and when Eames just spaced out through the window, when it was his turn to make his order, Arthur got a coffee for him too.  
"Enjoying the stay at the hotel, a little too much maybe? You look awfully tired."  
"Mhm…" Eames replied.  
"I don't even want to know what you did last night", Arthur said, trying to start a conversation.  
Eames looked around himself absently.  
"…I don't…. remember."  
Arthur laughed. This had to be a joke, and it put him a little at ease. Maybe the unknown danger the other man had spotted, had passed away.  
"I said no details! Don't try to brag about your wild nights w-".  
He was interrupted by something he saw. As Eames had taken off his coat, his left wrist had been exposed. Arthur grabbed it hastily.  
"Where'd you get…? Have you been going under?" He whispered and looked up to meet the other man's eyes.  
Eames did not answer, just eyed him back with an empty look. But there were no doubt those were the light pink marks you get after sharing a dream. He always had them himself; the device simply required you to tie the thin cables around the wrist of your hand.  
"Fuck!" Arthur murmured angrily to himself, rose up from the chair and picked up his phone.  
"Cobb?"  
"Yes, is that you, Arthur?"  
"It's me, have you been running any tests with Eames lately?"  
"You know I don't do that anymore."  
"Seemingly he has been going under and…" Arthur threw a glance at the now quite confused Eames. He then turned around, walked to the other side of the room, and positioned himself in front of the old fashioned entrance door.  
"Arthur? What's happened to Eames?"  
"He has been going under; he is completely different, saying he doesn't remember."  
One could clearly hear the frustration in Arthur's voice, which he desperately tried to hold back.  
"He what?"  
The worry rubbed off on Cobb, and it became quiet for a while.  
"…Maybe he's been incepted? Or, I- I don't know!"  
Cobb was having a hard time talking about this, or even thinking about it. His thoughts wondered back to Mal… he had let her go, but the thought of this kind of thing happening again…  
"Why would they do that?"  
"There have been these threats from powerful people who… have gotten to know that extraction and inception is really being preformed. Some say they've been about to begin sabotaging for a while now. But I never thought…"  
Arthur's heart rammed, and Cobb's voice grew distant. He turned his head towards Eames, and stared at him with wide open, strained eyes.  
"Thanks for always SHARING EVERYTHING with me, Cobb!"  
Arthur's voice was dripping with sarcasm, and he almost shouted in rage into the phone, not knowing what to do. Cobb didn't answer, and with an angry growl, Arthur hung up.

* * *

**To be continued.**

This is a fill (for the inception kink meme on LJ), that I will release in short chapters. It's the first time ever writing for any meme, so give me some reviews, yeees? I desperately need to know what you think...  
Much love! And look forward to the continuation? /Miki


	2. Chapter 2

**Darling, go under with me**  
**chapter 2**

* * *

With a thump Eames was pushed onto the bed in their current hotel room. Arthur had tried to get something out of him, but nothing made much more sense than the line "I don't know".

It had been three days. Which, resulted to a mathematical product of 72 hours… 72 hours spent with a frustrating Eames _–_ so spaced out he did little care of Arthur's presence –when on the other hand, Arthur could not get his eyes of him. They HAD miraculously enough been able to talk to one another, but in the end they ended up silent around each other.  
Arthur did not know how to react. Their conversations for these past days had been honestly… boring, and continuously tearing on his conscious. He chose not to talk to the other man, because he was nothing like himself. Arthur couldn't really admit he liked it when the other teased him, never. But it felt as if something important was missing when he wasn't playing with him; some kind of confirmation. He was angry because Eames didn't give a shit about him anymore. But those feelings were the most insignificant that had been brought up by this whole situation…  
He was concerned, and worried to the brink of what he could master to hold inside of him. He had already shouted at Cobb that time in the cafeteria, and the memory made him utterly embarrassed. After that he had called him again. It had felt humiliating to pick up the phone once again, but as soon as he saw the confused look on Eames' face… He gave up any kind of unnecessary thought.

He had discussed with Cobb, and they had made up a plan.

24 hours:  
Take Eames to a doctor and get every inch of him checked _–_ in case he might have got some disease, or even a slight case of amnesia.  
Get a new hotel room – for obvious reasons.  
Try to talk to him.

42 hours:  
"Arthur, you should really try to get him to eat something". – Mr. Cobb (wise-ass, easy for him to say!).  
Try to sleep. (That hadn't gone very well due to Eames talking in his sleep the whole night. First Arthur hadn't been able to do anything, and had begun cursing over himself. After two hours he gave up, and put his arms around Eames. The other had woken up, looked at him, and then fallen back to sleep again).

72 hours:  
Result: Eames seems to very likely have been caused for something through dream sharing. Get the equipment to your hotel room.

"What are you doing?"  
"I'm putting you to sleep, and also, I'm going with you", said Arthur as he opened the silver briefcase.  
"I see. Dream sharing, huh? Useless."  
Eames lay on the bed. His shoulders had grown smaller and his cheeks, as well as the eyes had become grey-black, and beyond anything he looked unbearably tired. Arthur observed the poor figure lying on the bed. He seemed to be in deep thought, but unable to really think, and now and then he would release a deep sigh, covering his eyes with the palm of his hand. Arthur had wondered if he was crying, or about to do so, but hadn't dared to ask – he wouldn't get an answer anyway. Maybe the truth was that he didn't want to discover Eames crying, it just wasn't right, and he felt like a coward for not being strong enough to face the man in front of him – crying or not.  
"Eames, reach me your hand", he said coldly.  
Eames did what he had been asked to do, and Arthur tied the cables around his wrist.

He remembered the time when he had put Eames to sleep in that dream. It was during their inception project, and they had been in Arthur's dream, that time also, in a hotel room. Eames had been teasing him and he had snapped back at him. It was so clear in his memory; how Eames had been his usual self, and how he had put him to sleep with that cocky grin still on his face. That couldn't happen anymore. How it had been natural for them to act around each other, was no more.

"Go to sleep, Mr. Eames", he said, and when the other man let his eyelids fall, he couldn't help himself from feeling the heaviness of his heart, and the tears in the corners of his eyes.  
Was Eames ever going to come back?

* * *

**To be continued.  
**  
Sorry, not much happens in this chapter, just Arthur... living in denial. And weee know it.  
More action next time! Thanks for reading! And THANKS to all of you who've added this to your favourites/story alert subscription! Not to metion the reviews!  
Much love, and look forward to the next chapter~/ Miki


End file.
